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Does Object Size Matter with Regard to the Mental Simulation of Object Orientation?
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Description: People have been argued to mentally represent the implied orientation of objects (Stanfield & Zwaan, 2001). However, the effect is rather small in a sentence-picture verification task compared to published effects of other visual dimensions, such as shape, size, and color. The present study examines whether object size moderates the orientation effect. Theoretical considerations of how we interact with manipulable versus non-manipulable objects lead us to predict a smaller effect for manipulable objects than for non-manipulable objects. We furthermore predict the generalization of this pattern across languages (Chinese, Dutch, and English). Furthermore, we seek converging evidence in a picture-picture verification task that compares the verification times between pairs of rotated or non-rotated objects. Longer verification times for large objects would indicate that these objects require more cognitive effort for mental simulation than small objects, regardless of the presence of language.